The S&P closed at its highest level since 2007 last week, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq logged its best close since 2000. A round of upbeat trade data from the U.S. and China -- the world's two biggest economies -- helped push the market gauges to those levels Friday.

The week was off to a relatively quiet start Monday, with Chinese markets closed for the Lunar New Year and Japanese markets closed for National Foundation Day.

With no major U.S. economic reports on tap, traders were looking to a meeting of the Eurogroup to potentially provide direction. The group, which consists of eurozone finance chiefs, was expected to discuss the rapid advance in the euro versus other world currencies. The worry among some countries, like France, is that the stronger euro will make their exports less competitive an add yet another drag to the already shaky economy. The European Central Bank has been reluctant to directly address the euro, although President Mario Draghi did say at a press conference last week that the exchange rate is important.

Big swings in the euro, especially against the U.S. dollar, tend to have a significant impact on commodities, which can spark a chain reaction that cascades into equities.

The focus on politics will continue into the middle of the week, with President Barack Obama set to deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, in corporate news, Apple (AAPL) was said to be mulling creating a smart-watch type of device, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. Boeing (BA) also said it conducted what it called an "uneventful" test flight of a Dreamliner 787 over the weekend in hopes of gleaning more information about the plane's batteries.

Commodities were broadly lower. The benchmark U.S. oil contract dipped 12 cents, or 0.13%, to $95.60 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline sold off by 1% to $3.027 a gallon. Gold slumped $7.80, or 0.47%, to $1,659 a troy ounce.

Foreign Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.26% to 2637, the English FTSE 100 climbed 0.33% to 6285 and the German DAX gained 0.07% to 7657.